John Gabalas ( el, ) was a

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman c ...

magnate and hereditary ruler of the island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

in the 1240s. He lost control of the island to the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the La ...

in 1248, and called for aid from his suzerain, the

Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhous ...

. Nicaean troops retook the island, but it was not restored to John's control, becoming a Nicaean province.

Biography

Gabalas belonged to an old aristocratic family, dating at least back to the early 10th century, when Anna Gabala married Emperor

Romanos Lekapenos Romanos I Lekapenos ( el, Ρωμανός Λεκαπηνός; 870 – 15 June 948), Latinized as Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for the infant Constantine VII. Origin Romanos ...

's son and co-ruler

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

. The family was of relatively low importance thereafter, but produced a series of senior civil and ecclesiastic officials in the 11th and 12th centuries. Gabalas family rule was established on Rhodes circa 1203, when Byzantine central imperial authority had become weakened, either by John's elder brother

Leo Gabalas Leo Gabalas ( el, ) was a Byzantine Greek magnate and independent ruler of a domain, centered on the island of Rhodes and including nearby Aegean islands, which was established in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by the ...

or by an unnamed relative. John succeeded his brother after the latter's death sometime in the early 1240s. Unlike Leo, who had exercised almost independent authority and even concluded treaties of his own, John was dependent on the

. While Leo held the lofty title of "''

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

''" and claimed to rule several Aegean islands, John is only attested as "Master of Rhodes". A letter of King

Henry I of Cyprus Henry I of Cyprus, nicknamed the Fat (french: Henri de Lusignan; 3 May 1217 – 18 January 1253 at Nicosia) was King of Cyprus from 1218 to 1253. He was the son of Hugh I of Cyprus and Alice of Champagne. When his father Hugh I died on January 10 ...

, found in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

, appears to refer to John. It addresses him with the titles that he received from the Nicaean emperor, ''

sebastos ( grc-gre, σεβαστός, sebastós, venerable one, Augustus, ; plural , ) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of . The female form of the title was (). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th-ce ...

'' and '' megas doux'', and indicates that he was an imperial relative by marriage (''gambros''), probably as a result of a marriage to a Vatatzes lady, which may have taken place already before Leo's death. Almost nothing else is known of him and his rule except that in 1248, he was with the Nicaean army campaigning against the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byza ...

near

Nicomedia Nicomedia (; el, Νικομήδεια, ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocle ...

, when the Genoese suddenly seized Rhodes. A Nicaean expedition, under the ''

pinkernes ''Pinkernes'' ( grc, πιγκέρνης, pinkernēs), sometimes also ''epinkernes'' (, ''epinkernēs''), was a high Byzantine court position. The term derives from the Greek verb (''epikeránnymi'', "to mix ine), and was used to denote the cup- ...

John Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under And ...

, recovered the island in a campaign that probably lasted until 1250. After 1250, Gabalas family rule over Rhodes was terminated formally as well as ''de facto'', and the island became a Nicaean province.

Coinage

The Gabalas brothers issued their own

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

coinage, of unknown value or denomination. They were

aniconic Aniconism is the absence of artistic representations (''icons'') of the natural and supernatural worlds, or it is the absence of representations of certain figures in religions. It is a feature of various cultures, particularly of cultures which a ...

, and contained only inscriptions, John's coins bearing his name and title: ''+ΙW �ΝΝΗCΟ ΓΑΒΑΛΑC'' ("John Gabalas") on the obverse, and ''Ο ΑVΘΕΝΤΗC ΤΗC ΡΟΔΟV'' ("The Master of Rhodes") on the reverse. As Alexis Savvides points out, the omission of the formula ''Ο ΔΟVΛΟC ΤΟV ΒΑCΙΛΕ �C' ("Servant of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

"), that appeared on the coins of Leo, is remarkable, for in reality John's position vis-a-vis the Nicaean emperor was far more subordinate than that of his brother.

References

Sources

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Biography

Coinage

References

Sources

Further reading